Conversations from the Sims
by ReisDular
Summary: Three housemates, three perspectives, one small town to contain them. Their lives through each others eyes and a series of otherwise contextless conversations.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I claim no affiliation with EA Games. No infringements are meant maliciously, no money is being made.

Notes: While playing the sims I come up with little conversations and scenarios in my head which lie outside the available actions of the Sim characters. I assume everyone does this. So now I've decided to start writing them down for my own personal amusement. The collection is growing so I decided to publish them since there IS a category for this.

Conversations from The Sims

"Did you see how fast she had that upper room made?" Chris asked as he flopped down on the couch, plate in hand. His tie had been loosened but he hadn't taken his suit off completely.

"She calls it her 'studio'," Erik replied absently. He was watching _another_ cooking show and had pen and paper in hand to list ingredients and steps as they happened. "I think she's going to move the computer up there once we have enough money for a second one."

"Well I guess if that's what she wants. She's kind of a loner, she always has seemed happier when she could be on her own to do things her way," Chris said with a sigh as he began eating. Erik had prepared some kind of goopy, squishy looking thing. It looked weird, but it smelled delicious and Erik was the house's best cook so Chris wasn't surprised when he dug in and it tasted heavenly, whatever it was.

"Doesn't matter to me what she does so long as she keeps bringing in royalty checks and we keep paying our bills on time," Erik muttered back.


	2. Chapter 2

Conversations from The Sims

"How could you do this?" Caroline was fairly yelling at her housemate. Of the three of them she was the eldest and tried to act like the most responsible though it rarely worked out that way. "Don't you realize you are our best source of income?" She continued, getting into a rant. "If you quit your job we'll be down to one!"

"Hey!" Chris snapped back, though is voice was small in the face of his housemate's lividity. "I'm not the one that decided I want to be a famous author when I grow up. If you worked a real job me quitting wouldn't be a big deal."

Caroline's eyes widened in rage and offense, "I'm working my ass off night and day up there trying to write the best modern Science Fiction novel since 'Zombies? Zombies!' The least you could do is show a little support for the household!"

It was fortunate for the pair that Erik was currently out of the house, working his job at the diner, otherwise he'd have quite a bit of input in this conversation. Chris threw up his hands in frustration and marched out of the kitchen and into the living room.

"Look, I already got a new job and everything. It doesn't pay as much as my position at my old job but it pays more than the starting salary at the old place did so we don't have to worry!"

"I'm just saying," Caroline cried, following Chris into the next room. "It's irresponsible and you worked so _hard_ at your job at Doo Peas Corporate! Don't think I didn't see you working hard."

Chris frowned and put his hands on his hips, "I appreciate that you noticed, but I just can't keep working there. It's not interesting for me anymore. I'm sorry if that's not a really good excuse. I just want to try something new. I don't want to be tied down to doing one thing for the rest of my life."

Caroline sighed and scratched her head, "Look I understand. I really do. I'm just a little scared for our resources is all. You're right. I don't have a paying career like you guys do. I don't want to give up my writing but I feel like a huge burden."

Chris smiled in understanding and turned to face Caroline and pat her on the shoulder, "You don't have to give up your career and you're not a burden. You bring in royalty checks and you sell your paintings on the side. You do those math things on the internet too. You provide where you can. I don't want to see you give up your dream either. You don't need to worry. We have a couple thousand Simoleans saved up for a rainy day. We'll still be able to pay our bills and my new job pays pretty well. Don't worry so much and please, please stop yelling at me."

Caroline looked down and away from Chris, her expression contrite, "Yeah, okay. I'm sorry. Still friends?"

Chris smiled and pulled her into a brief hug, "Of course we are."


	3. Chapter 3

Conversations from The Sims

"Hey! Is anyone home?"

There was no answer. Erik ran outside and up the flight of stairs which led to Caroline's second floor 'studio'. He burst in through the unlocked door, "Caroline!"

The woman started with a squeal, her chair rolling back from her desk and into the wall. She glared up at Erik and scooted back into toward her computer, "Yes?" she asked tightly. Erik ignored her tone.

"Guess what!"

"What?" She asked absently, quickly becoming involved in her work once more.

"I made Sous-Chef at the diner!" Erik said excitedly.

"That's nice, Erik," Caroline replied, her voice sounded only remotely supportive of her friend's accomplishment.

Erik sighed and laid his hands on his hips, "I make a hundred twenty-eight Simoleans an hour," he said flatly.

"What?" Caroline practically leapt up out of her seat and stared at him open mouthed.

"You have a one track mind you know that?" Disgusted, Erik turned to leave the studio.

"Wait!" Caroline called out and rounded her desk. "Wait. I'm sorry. I'm just working on my newest book. It's the end of the trilogy. You made Sous-chef. I did hear you. I'm really proud of you."

"Yeah?"

Caroline smiled and nodded her head, "Yeah. Of course I am."

Erik was the youngest of the three housemates, and currently the most successful since Chris had quit his job and taken a lower paying, lower recognition position at the science facility. As the youngest it wasn't unnatural that he should look to his friends for approval in his endeavors. Caroline knew her apparent lack of interest was hurtful, and she felt bad about it now. Caroline laid a hand on Erik's shoulder, "Hey! How about we celebrate? We haven't been spending enough time together. Tomorrow's your day off right? Let's go to the pool!"

"What about your book? And Chris?"

"It can wait. And Chris, well he'll just have to deal. How about it?"

Erik smiled and nodded his head, "Yeah it sounds like a great idea. I can't wait."


	4. Chapter 4

Conversations from the Sims

Caroline stormed into her studio and slammed her chair back against the wall. She dropped down into it and wrapped her arms around herself. She wanted to crawl into a hole and die. She wanted the ground to open up and swallow her. She couldn't _believe _what had happened!

Taking Erik out had been a HUGE mistake. After swimming they had visited the art gallery. Knowing how much she liked art, it had been Erik's idea. Caroline thought it was sweet that he wanted to take her. So they'd gone. There they had been talking and she wasn't sure _what_ she had said but she'd said _something_. The next thing she knew Erik was yelling at her in front of, what felt like, a million people. She could feel their eyes, their awful, judging eyes, staring at the pair of them. Caroline had wanted to die. She settled for running out of the museum as fast as she possibly could.

She felt like crying. She was just trying to be a good friend! She knew Erik was hotheaded sometimes, but he knew that she disliked crowds of people. She was sacrificing more than just her little spending cash in taking him out.

Caroline rubbed her hands over her face. The solitude of her studio made her feel a little better. The smell of paint and the sound of her computer gently whirring were familiar and comfortable to her. She reached forward and moved the mouse. The story she'd been working on popped up on the screen. She began tapping at the keys of her keyboard. Each little 'takka takka' making her feel a little bit better, a little safer, a little more normal. She was grateful for that. She didn't have to worry about Erik, or multitudes of strangers. She was safe here in the world she created. She was okay.


	5. Chapter 5

Conversations from The Sims

"Are you two just going to not talk to each other ever again now?" Chris asked. Ever since the day they'd gone out together Caroline and Erik had not been speaking to each other. As the man in the middle it was very disturbing to Chris watching them walk around their rather small house completely ignoring each other's existence.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Caroline responded blandly as her eyes scanned a page of the book she was reading.

"You and Erik," Chris responded, waving his arms emphatically. "It's driving me nuts how the two of you are acting. We _live_ together for Llama's sake. You can't keep ignoring each other."

Caroline sighed and closed her book with a 'wump', "We're not ignoring each other," She said, annoyed. "We're just not speaking. It's too weird to talk to him right now. I guess he feels the same. It's not a big deal."

"Yeah, not to you maybe, but you don't have to be in the middle of it all. I feel like I need to choose a side or something."

"Don't be silly," Caroline said with a small laugh. "You don't have to choose sides. You can still be friends with us both."

"Yeah I hope so," Chris responded with a sigh and slumped down on the couch.


	6. Chapter 6

Conversations from The Sims

"Damn it! That little brat!"

They could hear Erik's shout clear inside the house. Chris and Caroline both poked their heads out the front door. The former was still in his pyjamas and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. What they saw was Erik picking up their trashcan.

"What's wrong?" Chris asked.

"The new papergirl! That's what's wrong!" Erik raged. "She kicked over our trash can. AGAIN!"

Caroline frowned. Their old paperboy had been a sweet kid, quiet and so serious about his job it was cute. The new girl was rowdy and loud and laughed at everything, which wasn't bad, until she'd started messing with their stuff. Caroline was still looking for the Garden Gnome she'd found and placed in their front yard.

"Can we report the little brat or something?" She asked.

"I don't know but I'm sure as hell going to try."


	7. Chapter 7

Conversations from The Sims

"You bought a guitar?"

"Yeah."

Caroline was standing over Chris, who sat on the couch video game controller in hand, her hands on her hips. There was a look on the woman's face, and it was growing darker…and darker… Chris didn't notice. He was too busy watching the little players on the screen.

"You bought a guitar," She said again. This time it was more obviously not a question. However, Caroline's agitation still wasn't getting through to the distracted man on the couch as he again responded,

"Yeah."

"YOU BOUGHT A GUITAR!" Caroline shouted, hitting Chris with a throw pillow as she did. Chris jumped and flung his hands up to fend off the attacking woman, the controller falling to the ground as he did.

"I bought a guitar! I bought a guitar!" He admitted now, terrified. "What's wrong? It's just a guitar!"

"How much did it cost! What are you planning on doing with it!"

"I'm gonna play it! What else would I do with it?"

Caroline stopped smacking Chris with the pillow and frowned down at him, "Why?"

Chris lowered his hands a little, but not completely, and looked at the angry woman, "I just thought it might be fun to learn to play the guitar and maybe go to some concerts," he was starting to mumble, "start a band, get famous you know."

"You're going to quit your job again!" She was hitting him again with the pillow.

"I haven't yet though! I haven't yet!" Chris defended himself, his arms going up again to fend off the pillow. "Stop hitting me!"

"Never!"

Something had changed in her voice. She sounded amused now. Of course she would be amused by his suffering. Chris flopped over on the couch. "The pain! It hurts! Why would you do this to meeee!"

Caroline giggled and threw the pillow down on Chris, "What do you want for dinner?"

"Is Erik not coming home?"

"Are you saying I can't cook?"

She was hitting him with the pillow again. Chris laughed and held his hands over his head.


	8. Chapter 8

Conversations from The Sims

"Guys," Chris and Caroline looks up from their video game as Erik slid in front of the TV. His eyes were alight with joy and mischief but his tone was completely serious, "we're moving to Bridgeport."

"What?" Caroline asked incredulously.

"I've already got us an apartment and everything! It's kind of small but we'll manage."

"You did what?"

"Don't yell at me!" Erik snapped. "You guys don't have to come. I'll go by my damn self. But think about it! Bars, clubs, all the greatest new fashions."

Chris made a confused face, "But why? We're doing pretty well here."

"Why? Dude look at us. We have _careers_. We have a _house_. Caroline's written like twelve books."

"Six," Caroline corrected with a huff.

"Seven," Chris muttered.

"Seven," Caroline corrected with a huff.

"So what's wrong with that?" Chris asked.

"Nothing… For a bunch of old people! I'm still young! I wanna go out! I wanna enjoy life!"

"So you're suggesting we go live in Bridgeport and just goof off?" Caroline asked with raised eyebrows. "With what money?"

"With our money. We have a ridiculous amount of money saved up. Look I'm a five star chef! We go for a while, we come back. I can my job back. Chris was going to quit his job soon again anyway,"

"Hey!" Chris snapped, looking mildly offended. Then he sighed and hung his head. "Yeah…"

"And you can always write, Caroline. Come on. What do you say?"

Chris and Caroline looked at each other for a long moment. Chris finally gave her a blank smile and Caroline knew perfectly well that that meant he was leaving the decision up to her. She looked back up at Erik and thought for a moment longer before finally nodding her head.

"Let's go to Bridgeport."


	9. Chapter 9

Conversations from The Sims

"I thought you said it was going to be a _small_ apartment. This is _not_ a _small_ apartment!" Caroline was throwing some kind of fit. This was normal of course. Erik and Chris were more or less ignoring her in favor of moving their bags in. The apartment was fully furnished of course with all the amenities, but it was not what Caroline had expected when Erik had said 'one bed one bath'.

"I know it's not super tiny like you thought it was going to be," Erik responded sarcastically as he carried in a heavy box without seeming to break a sweat. Behind him Chris was pushing an equally heavy box and _had_ broken a sweat. "But I wanted something we'd be able to convert. There's an extra room upstairs we can get a bed for."

Caroline was examining a wall near the entrance hall. She reached out and pushed on the wall. There was a click and it gave easily against the gentle pressure of her hand.

"There's another room here," she said, her voice cautious but curious. Chris abandoned his box and moved to the door.

Within the room was pitch black. The light of the hallway only barely penetrated the darkness. Erik rushed to the kitchen and returned with a flashlight as Caroline reached a hand in and fumbled around the dark for a switch. None of them seemed to want to go in for some reason. Erik shone the light into the room. There was a large stone slab in the middle of it. The three gave each other quizzical looks. Erik moved the flashlight around the room a little.

"There!" said Caroline, pointing. There was a light fixture hanging in the ceiling but no bulb.

"I'll get one!" Chris exclaimed. He sounded excited for the mystery unfolding before them. He rushed away to the kitchen and returned moments later with a bulb in hand. He stopped at the doorway. The three stood there for a long moment.

"Oh come on!" Erik suddenly exclaimed and snatched the bulb away from Chris. He looked into the darkness and steeled himself before stepping in. Nothing happened. Erik breathed a quiet sigh of relief and, filled with courage, moved further in. He climbed up onto the stone slab and reached up to stick the flashlight in his mouth as he screwed in the lightblub. It flashed on and Erik let out a startled sound and shielded his eyes.

Caroline's nose wrinkled as the room flooded with light, "Well it's a nice room. We just need some wallpaper….and a rug….or something."

Erik blinked the spots out of his eyes and looked around. It was bare stone and cement, not unlike the slab he stood on.

"Definitely," agreed the second eldest housemate.

Erik kicked at the slab beneath him as Chris and Caroline edged forward into the room, "What the hell is this?" he asked rhetorically. He jumped off, motioning to Chris at the same time to come to him, "C'mon help me push it. Maybe we can move it out of here."

Chris positioned himself at the end of the slab opposite Erik and together they pushed. By the doorway Caroline clapped her hands and cheered, "Woo! You guys can do it!"

There was a sound of stone scraping against stone, but the slab itself didn't move only the top did. Chris and Erik looked down.

"Holy crap!" They shouted and scrambled back away from the thing. Caroline moved forward.

"Holy Llama it's a coffin!"

"So bed room's upstairs right?"

Chris and Caroline shot out of the room. Erik scampered after them, "No! I do not get the vampire room! Guys! GUYS!"


	10. Chapter 10

Conversations from The Sims

"Closing time!" called the barkeep. "We'll be open again tomorrow. Come back then for more drinks and music!"

Erik and Chris stood at the elevator looking around. There was a large group in front of them waiting to go up, but they were waiting for Caroline. They hadn't seen her on the dance floor where they had assumed she would be, as they were at the bar most of the night. Chris was beginning to get nervous and worried. Erik was beginning to get annoyed. The group in front of them got on the elevator. They didn't follow.

"Where the hell is she? Did she go up already?" Erik asked, getting impatient.

"Wait for me!" Called Caroline's familiar voice as she came skittering out of the VIP lounge, her hair wet and her shoes in one hand.

Erik stares, "Where the hell-? Where you in the-?"

"Yup!"

Chris gaped, "How'd you get in the VIP section?"

Caroline shrugged, "I dunno really! I asked the bouncer if I could get in and he was all, No only celebrities can come back here. But then he gave me a little wink and he walked off and I just snuck on back!" The woman was grinning from ear to ear.

"Well what the hell," Erik snapped. "I never get let back there!"

Caroline tossed her wet hair, a haughty look on her face, "Well I guess you just don't have _star_ quality."


	11. Chapter 11

Conversations from The Sims

The housemates were bored. They were currently sitting around their house, doing nothing. Caroline couldn't write, she didn't feel inspired, so she was laying on the couch with her feet over the back of the headrest and her head hanging down toward the floor. Erik had torn the kitchen apart, creating some of the most beautiful dishes imaginable in the process. Chris was quietly plucking at the strings of the guitar he'd bought before they left Sunset Valley.

In the month it had been since they'd arrived in Bridgeport they'd hit all the bars, become semi alcoholic celebrity chasers, snuck into more VIP sections than they could keep count of, and been kicked out of just as many. At first the entire experience had be novel and they'd been excited to be in the big city, but the novelty had quickly worn off and they'd spend the last week just hanging around their ridiculously large apartment plucking at the straws of their old lives and the old things that had held their interest and given them comfort.

Erik finally finished stowing all the food he'd cooked into their overstuffed fridge and wandered out of the kitchen. He stopped by Chris and listened to him play for a moment. He was getting good, Erik thought. The youngest housemate began to wonder what it would be like if he himself picked up the guitar or some other instrument.

Just like that Erik's face lit up and he looked between Chris and Caroline.

"I've got it!"

Caroline looked up and Chris stopped playing.

"Got what?" Chris asked, his voice only registering remote interest.

"The best idea…EVER."

Caroline blinked slowly and allowed her legs to fall over onto the couch cushions, "What would that be," she asked, her voice registering the same muted interest as Chris'.

"We are going," Erik paused for dramatic effect, "to start a band!"

Both Chris and Caroline's eyebrows rose and they looked at each other. Caroline pushed herself up into a proper sitting position and straightened her shirt as she spoke,

"A band? What good would that do us?"

"We can make up some songs, start playing gigs, make some money get a little famous, then we wouldn't have to go sneaking into VIP lounges anymore! They'd be begging us to come in."

"It could take a long time to get established…nevermind learn our instruments."

Erik pointed at Chris, "You're already on your way there! You're getting better and better at the guitar." He took a step closer to Chris. "I think you should be our band leader, Chris."

"What? Me? Why?" Chris looked extremely flustered. "I don't think I have what it takes to be a band leader. I'm not a great leader."

Erik grinned, "That's exactly why you should be leader! The downfall of some of the best bands is the leader getting too full of himself, right? Well for our band the most reluctant person should be the leader, that way we'll all get a fair say."

Chris made an uncertain hemming sound, and so Erik turned to Caroline, "What do you think?"

Caroline blinked, "I call drums."

"Goddamnit!"

Chris laughed and began plucking at his guitar again, "If Caroline's on board I guess I will be too. Who knows, this could be fun."


End file.
